Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to wellbore operations and in particular to locating lateral wellbores.
Description of the Related Art
In the field known as well logging, wells are examined using mechanical, electrical and radioactive tools called logging tools. The logging tools are inserted into wellbores that penetrate into reservoirs. The logging tools inserted into wellbores record certain physical measurements that are interpreted to provide a description of petrophysical properties related to the wellbore or the reservoir it penetrates. Well drilling techniques now include multilateral horizontal wells wherein horizontal wells have many branches called laterals. Those laterals branch out from the main bore like tree roots. Generally those branches are drilled using special drilling steering devices. Those laterals are generally not easily accessible by logging tools.
Existing sensing tools used to find laterals in multilateral wells use electronic sensors such as magnetic and ultrasonic sensors. There is a great deal of error associated with those sensors so multiple scanning runs are required, with the resulting signals being fed into an algorithm to provide a statistical interpretation of where the lateral window can be found.